London: Leading organisations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have warned of increasing global economic instability. With these warnings, taking note of the recession-like environment in the economy, the leading Central Banks of the world have started taking steps for it. Besides, the world’s leading Central Banks have turned to buying gold, a safe investment in times of recession and volatility. In the first two months of 2023, Central Banks alone have bought as much as 125 tonnes of gold, according to the World Gold Council’s (WGC) report.
Moreover, the Central Banks of the world’s leading countries like Singapore, Turkey, China, Russia and India have purchased large amounts of gold. In addition, Singapore has drawn attention by buying more than 51 tonnes of gold in just two months. It revealed that Turkey bought 45.5 tonnes, while China bought nearly 40 tonnes of gold. It has been said that Russia has purchased more than 30 tonnes of gold, and India has bought about three tonnes of gold. The WGC has said that Uzbekistan and Mexico have also bought gold.
Additionally, the report mentions that the Central Banks’ purchase of as much as 125 tonnes of gold in the first two months of the new year becomes a noteworthy and significant event. Since 2010, the world’s leading Central Banks have begun buying large amounts of gold. The purchases in the first two months of 2023 have been the highest in the last 14 years. Moreover, the WGC predicts that this trend seen at the beginning of the year will continue in future.
In 2022, the Central Banks of the world bought a total of 1,136 tonnes of gold. This is also a new high, the council informed in the report. The report drew attention to the fact that a country like Turkey has been buying gold continuously for the last 15 months. Furthermore, WGC mentions that Turkey’s Central Bank was leading among the banks that bought the most gold in 2022.
Gold reserves in China reached 2,068 tonnes
Beijing: China’s Central Bank has been reported to buy gold for five consecutive months. It has purchased over 100 tonnes of gold in the past five months, taking China’s gold reserves to 2,068 tonnes. Moreover, China has bought nearly 58 tonnes of gold in the first three months since the start of 2023. According to the World Gold Council report, the highest amount of 25 tonnes of gold was purchased in February. Some analysts claim that with the increased purchases, China has been set to introduce a gold-backed currency for the BRICS group.
